Far From Bliss
by Alex teh Eval
Summary: Jack moves into Mineral Town and is thrown into a world of drama... not tied down to any specific HM. chapter 5: sara the emerge of the first love square! woo! please R
1. Intro

Disclaimer- This story isn't actually directly related to Harvest Moon, if you think long and hard about it. Just the fact that there's a farm. Mmm, farm. The only thing that make it a harvest moon fanfic is the farm really. But still, it has be said, I do not own Harvest Moon.

Although imagine how cool that would be.

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Jack checked his watch, before remembering it was broken, and had been for some time. He still wore it purely because it was designer, the only designer thing he owned. Jack had always been poor, not for lack of trying to find money. But lucky for him, he was pretty sure he'd found his lucky break. Brushing a few droplets of water off of the face of the watch, he thought back to a month earlier.

A chilly December's day, no snow. Just cold. Jack was in the house by himself. His roommate and best friend, Henry, was out at his girlfriend's house. The restaurant Jack worked had been shut down a week ago for a health code violation and he had no source of money. So that was how he found himself browsing through the classifieds.

Nothing appealed to him. He turned the page again… and then he saw it.

Sure, it was an abandoned farm, something that most wouldn't be excited by. But this was a gamble, and Jack was a fan of gambles. This was what he wanted.

A nice sounding village, population pushing 100. Near the coast and the mountains. And not too far away.

Jack called up the number from the ad, shaking like mad. The man at the other end finally picked up.

"Hello?"

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Jack was shaking like he had been when he dialed that number. This time, though, there was someone there to see him. It was the man who was steering the motorboat, James, who Jack had met only 4 hours before, at the docks. It had been another gamble to not buy a boat ticket to the island, and then another one to jump in with someone he didn't even know. But James knew the sea and seemed friendly, so Jack promised a nice sum of money to get him here.

"You okay, kid?"

"Yeah, it's just kinda cold." Jack said, putting his jacket on. "Have you got the time?"

James checked his own watch. "Nearly eleven. We're almost there, by the way. You should start getting your luggage together soon."

Jack attended to this, although it didn't take long. He only had a few small bags. He didn't own much in the first place, and he'd left alot with Henry, who had been pretty upset to see him leave. Jack felt guilty about it, of course, but he had promised to invite Henry down to Mineral Town once he'd settled in. Although he was somewhat consoled because of the changes his friend had been going through lately- ever sinceHenry had started going out with Emma, he'd been different. Emma was a bitch, and had taken Jack's only close friend.

This was something that had made the move alot easier. There wasn't anyone he would miss terribly. Until Henry and Emma broke up, he wasn't sure he could be around him.

Jack inhaled deeply. This was the start of something new.

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---Monica---

"Nina… Nina, get off the freaking table! NINA!" I screamed, getting up on my chair and tugging at my friend's dress. "Steve! Get her drink and throw it away, she's way too drunk to have any more!"

Steve just laughed. "It's okay, the view's just fine over here."

His friends joined in the laughter. Nina was a drop dead gorgeous blonde, with a perfect body, big blue eyes and she looked amazing in a red minidress she'd bought especially for New Year's Eve. Of course the guys wanted her to keep dancing for them on the table. Even when she was drunk out of her mind, she was still beautiful.

That's when the doors opened. Another guy from the village, Martin, had walked in. "Hey, there's a boat coming in. It's the guy who bought the farm. Who's coming down to the beach?"

We all headed for the door. I turned to look at Nina, but she was being dealt with. Steve was carrying her, newlywed style. He was so head over heels in love with her, and had been since we were young. Now they were pretty close friends, and Nina didn't mind his undying affection. Well, who would? Steve was hot, and he could probably have any girl in the village, but there was only one that he wanted and, well, she certainly didn't feel the same. He would never pass up a chance to hold her. I smiled at the two (Nina was drooling down his arm, but it was cute nonetheless). Nina is pretty much my best friend, the only person who didn't judge me when I became a goth when I was ten. But she's got someone else, Lucy, who just encourages her to drink like a homeless man. Me and Steve try our best to look after her, along with Nina's older brother, Kyle, but the fact is it's her choice. She's a nice girl really.

When we reached the beach, Jack had been greeted. There were some people helping to carry his luggage as he met everyone, hugging the ladies and shaking the hands of the men. We came in closer.

"Hi, I'm Monica." I said, putting my arms around him. "The drunk one is Nina. She's pretty nice when she's, y'know, conscious." Jack laughed and was introduced to everyone else. I went over to talk to the other people my age, who had been on the beach for a few hours, playing volleyball the dark.

"So, whaddya think of this guy?" I asked one of the guys, Max.

"It's hard to tell now. We'll see, huh?"

We would see.

Of course, Mineral Town was always dramatic. But sometimes you need a trigger for more drama. And Jack was it.


	2. Chapter 2: Alex vs Lyn

Disclaimer- Okay, adding onto what I said before- this fic isn't directly related to Harvest Moon, just the farm. I made up all of my characters, although I did take the name Mineral Town. But still, this story basically just follows the lives of the teenagers in the town.

By the way, this is rated for swearing, alcohol/ drug abuse (alcohol a lot more then drugs though) and sexual references.

This chapter introduces a few more characters, and in the next chapters after this I'll bebringing insome more.

--- Alex ---

Spring 1

Robbie grabbed me and tried to push me over. I struggle to get free.

"Get off me!" I yell, half joking. "If you're that scared of losing, just forfeit!"

I pull myself free and sprint after the ball. It's another spring morning and we're playing football on the beach like we always do. My team is winning, yet again. Robbie shows up next to me and slide tackles, and then I go down like a log. I try to get up but he pins me down. Robbie's muscles are a force to be reckoned with.

My friend Jess appears in front (I can only see her feet, but I know it's her) and scores a goal.

"And that's a game!" yells Steve from the sideline. Robbie rolls away, and we're both laughing to the point of tears. He's crazy gorgeous, but can be pretty much an asshole if you're not on his good side. He stops laughing for long enough to give me and hand up, but we erupt into the same giggles again.

"Hey, Alex, we gotta go, that new guy is going around by himself, and he's cute. I'm gonna introduce myself." Says one of my best friends, Sara, flicking her hair back. Then she takes one look from me to Robbie and shakes her head. She knocks Robbie over into the sand, links arms with me, and we leave.

Oh god, she's looking again. That little whore is looking again. Lyn, she's staring at me.

My grip tightens on Sara's arm. She squeals in pain and lets go.

Yup, Lyn's still staring. I think she's in a trance, because even though I'm looking back, she seems to not have taken any notice. If she doesn't stop staring, I might go over and punch her pretty little face in.

Oh, yeah, that's the other thing about Robbie. He's going out with Lyn. I'm not a big fan of Lyn, ever since she stole my boyfriend at the time, Travis. Sure, we were only nine, and it wasn't exactly serious. (again, we were nine.) But I can sure hold a grudge, and lately it's been a lot worse.

And sure, it's partly my fault. The moment Lyn and Robbie started going out, I threw myself at him. I don't have any feelings for him, but anything to annoy Lyn.

I hate her, I really do.

It's fun though. I get the feeling Robbie doesn't like Lyn the way she likes him. They weren't even friends before they went out. He was actually pretty mean to her, but I guess that's a guy thing. She asked him out and he said yes, and I jumped at the opportunity to piss her off.

Best of all, Robbie flirts back. But she wants him so much that she doesn't care that he treats her like dirt from the bottom of his shoe.

"Hey, Al, you okay?" my other best friends, Jess, asks, seeing that I'm reminiscing again.

Sara joins in: "It's Lyn again, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Jess and Sara both hug me, and I start laughing again. Robbie has just walked over to Lyn and put his arm around her, and she sticks on a big fake smile.

I know it's killing her inside.

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"There he is!" Sara squeals when we walk into the supermarket.

I pull her out from the aisle. "Hi, Jack?"

He turns around. "Hey, Alex!". He remembers me from yesterday. "And hi to…"

"Jess and Sara." I say, pointing to each girl respectively. Jack nods at each of them and starts taking something down from the shelves. It slips and a load of cans are about to hit the ground. The three of us dive onto the floor and manage to catch every can between us.

Jack bursts out laughing. "So, what are you three, Charlie's Angels?"

We get to work putting everything back.

"By the way, we're having a football match at 4, everyone is gonna be there. We always play on a Monday. And, well, every other day of the week." Sara says hopefully.

"Well, I'm kinda busy, but I'll take a rainch-"

"We'll help you out!"

All four of us go deadly silent after Sara's offer.

"Okay, thanks." Jack replies, sounding suspicious but he was also obviously pleased that he was getting his own work force. "See ya."

He waves and walks away. When he is out of earshot, I grab Sara b the shirt and pull her in close. "What did you just get us into?" I hiss.

"What, he's probably lonely!"

"Well, we know you're a bit of a sucker for guys, so you can't help it." Jess says, always seeing the funny side.

"Nah, he's not really my type. Really, I think he's lonely." Sara says.

"Wait, you only said, like, three words to the guy. Already not your type?"

Sara shrugs. She was right, he probably was a bit lonely right now, but that was no reason to spend hours sweating and getting covered in cow crap…

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I sigh from the sidelines of the game, pretty upset that I can't be in the game. While helping Jack out, Jess accidentally tripped me up, I fell over, and a cow stepped on my foot. I moved quickly enough for it not to break However, there was a massive bruise spread across it and I certainly couldn't play. Instead, I sat at a table outside the Beach Lodge with Jess's boyfriend, Danny. The Beach Lodge is owned by Danny's dad and Danny was supposed to be working right now, but there weren't any customers. And that was because we were the only people not playing, except Sara, who was reffing this match.

"Okay… let's play a game." Danny says randomly, seeing my extreme boredom.

"Sure, what game?"

"Let's play, 'What do you think you're playing at with Robbie when he's going out with Lyn'".

"Funny. I've never heard of that one."

"Yeah, it's new."

We stare at each other for a moment. I've never known Danny to be angry, and we're actually pretty good friends. I was taken aback by his sudden outburst.

"I dunno what you're talking about."

"Well, this morning, for example. You were flirting with him the whole time during that game." He stops for a moment. "You want something to eat?"

This is the Danny I know. "Yeah, get me a cone with two scoops of low fat vanilla."

"Low fat? Are you kidding? You're getting the full thing, twiggy."

I laugh and watch as he climbs over the counter and gets us both some food.

"And what you were saying before… I just don't like Lyn very much. She gives me a bad vibe."

"Still hung up about the Travis thing? Fuckin' hell, you should've been over that a looooong time ago. You were nine, twiggy, NINE."

"It's not just that though, that's just where it started. Ever since then she's just rubbed me the wrong way, y'know, and any time we talk we fight about something."

Danny hands me the ice cream and sits down with a plate of fries for himself. "Of course, I can see what you're saying. Pretty much everyone gets that vibe. She's not a nice girl. I don't like her either. She really likes Robbie though, and if you ask me, she's become easier to deal with since then."

"Not to me, she hasn't."

"Okay, but two wrongs don't make a right, remember that."

"I'm not trying to make a right, I'm trying to get back at her for all the shit she's given me over the years."

"Well, twiggy, I don't-" Then he stops suddenly.

"You don't what?"

"Speak of the devil."

I turn around. Lyn is heading towards us. I was too wrapped up in talking to Danny to hear Sara call half time.

"Dan, hunny, can I get a coke?" she says in that awful high pitched voice, putting some money on the table.

"Of course, Lyn, coming right up." Danny replies and goes over the counter again. She turns around to talk to Robbie.

"Give me that." I say once Danny has filled the cup. I spit into it and hand it back.

Danny shakes his head. "Oh, what are we gonna do with you, huh twiggy?". Then he grins and also spits into it. I look at him walk down and give it to Lyn, who smiles and takes a big gulp.

Of course it's mean, but it's just too much fun.


	3. Chapter 3: Hannah, town bitch

Disclaimer- Same as before. The characters are mine, Mineral Town and the farm belong to… them.

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---Hannah---

Spring 3

Me and my best friend, Aimee, were sitting down in the hairdressers that we worked at, Supercuts. My next appointment was supposed to have been here by now. I wasn't looking forward to it, because I knew exactly who it was.

"And here comes Gothgirl, in all of her black-clothed glory…" Aimee whispers into my ear and we fight giggles as Monica walks in.

She steps up to the counter where my mom (the owner of Supercuts, the only hairdressers in Mineral Town) is standing with the appointment book.

"Monica, 10:00, color and cut." Monica says, leaning over and pointing out her name in the book. My mom nods and tells her to take a seat.

"So, Monica? What color was it you're getting it dyed?" I say to her quietly so my mom can't hear.

"Brown, right? Some kind of light chocolate-y color?" Aimee joins in.

I follow with: "Or maybe go back to blond, like you used to be?"

"Yeah, back to platinum blonde, like this!" Aimee takes a strand of her own hair and waves it in Monica's face.

Monica has reached boiling point. She reaches out and grabs the piece of Aimee's hair and a pair of scissors from the table next to her and snips it off.

"Wash my fucking hair." She hisses and throws the handful of blond strands onto the floor.

Aimee inhales deeply, holding her newly-chopped hair. "God, Gothgirl, you're such a little freak."

Me and Aimee take one look at each other and start laughing.

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That's why most people don't like us. Well, pretty much no one likes us. The only ones who do are people who are equally mean as us, and that's a rare few, and then of course each other. It's okay though, because me and Aimee are practically carbon copies. We understand each other deeply and it's good because no one else does.

Well, there is one person, but he's different. Oh, Kyle…

Kyle is one of the nicest people in Mineral Town, and when I'm with him, so am I. I tell him everything, but he's never seen me do something like what happened with Monica. He's heard stories about me, and I've heard his response: "I'm sure that's not true… Hannah's really nice."

But it's never been anymore then that. I'm just nice. I wish it was more, like maybe "Hannah's amazing!" or "Hannah would never do that!". Or "Hannah's beautiful!"…

Oh, how I wish he would say I was beautiful.

But I know he never will.

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Me, Aimee, Kyle, Travis, Joe and Jack are having lunch together at the beach lodge. Travis and Joe don't like me, but they're friends with Kyle and they have to put up with me. Jack doesn't know what I'm like and we're getting on pretty well.

"So, you two have been best friends all of your life?" Jack asks, astounded.

"Yeah, our moms were best friends at college and Aimee's mom moved here, and then when my mom was pregnant she decided to move here too."

Kyle nudges me. "I never knew that."

"I didn't think it was that interesting."

"I think it's really cool." He says.

My heart skips a beat. I try to say thanks but I've lost my voice.

"So, Aimee, did you get a haircut or something?" Travis says.

We look at each other nervously. After the thing with Monica, I gave Aimee a trim to even the damage.

"Uh, no…" she says, playing with her napkin and not making eye contact.

"That reminds me of something I heard before." Says Joe. "Monica says you two were picking on her when she went in to get her hair dyed today."

"Not true." I say hurriedly.

Kyle nods. "Yeah, I'm sure that's not true. Hannah's really nice."

There it is again.

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Spring 4

We're at the Beach Lodge again today, but this time it's just me, Aimee, and Nina, who joined us a few minutes before. We're just watching Nina's brother, Kevin, with her best friend, Lucy.

Nina takes another sip of her coke, an angry look appearing on her perfect face. "It's not fair."

"What's not fair?" I ask to this.

"It's not fair that Kev goes crazy when I even talk to guys, but then he's allowed to plainly flirt with my best friend. Actually, it's not just unfair. It's stupid."

"I'm sure it's just 'cause he's your older brother, he feels like he has to protect you."

"I know, but it's also that Lucy... well, she's my best friend and all, but I mean… she's a slut, isn't she?"

Me and Aimee look at each other. We're thinking the same thing: Nina doesn't exactly hold out either.

She knows what we're thinking too. "Yeah, I know. But I'm not exactly Lucy, am I?"

This is true. There is one very big difference between Nina and Lucy, and it is that Lucy never, ever, has fun. Except when she's with Kevin, although she only shows it because, well, he's a few years older then her, and he's cute. She's also the only person who is considered as mean as us, because she is pretty horrible. Nina, on the other hand, is a fun-lover, and is accepted by everyone because she's so nice. Which means that even though Lucy is clearly prettier (and it's hard to be prettier then Nina, but she has it), everyone likes Nina.

There is one person who likes Nina more then everyone else, and that's Steve. Steve has been obsessed with her for ages, and of course everyone roots for him to get her, just because they are perfect. However, Nina doesn't understand, and no matter what anyone says, she thinks it's a joke and that she and Steve are just friends. And Lucy doesn't help, considering that she always insists that pretty girls get older guys.

"No one is quite like Lucy." I say, and then I look up to see Kyle and Jack heading over to us.

Jack grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. "Get into the game, Hannah!" he yells and starts dragging me over to the pitch.

"No, I'm fine." I protest and try to get free from him. Then Kyle takes my other hand.

"No! We're forcing you to!" he says. I have suddenly lost my voice again after taking one look at him. Except now Nina has stepped up and pinches him.

"Get off her Kyle!" she demands, and Kyle actually listens to her. Jack also lets go, but then him and Kyle briefly look at each other, then leap over and give Nina a nudgie. When they stop, she quickly pats her hair down and gives them both the finger. They laugh and walk away.

"Guys our age are so immature." Of course, Lucy has just appeared and is giving us her opinion.

"Luce, we're just having fun. Loosen up a little."

I laugh, just because people don't come much looser then Lucy, but in a different way.

Lucy shrugs at us, and turns to go back to Kevin, but he's moved right in behind her. He pushes her over into the sand and she bursts out laughing. Anyone with ears can tell how fake it is though.

Nina locks eyes with me, then we both look at her brother and best friend playing in the sand. She walks away without another word. There's something that's really upset her, and I can't figure out what it is. I run after her.

"Nina, are you okay?"

"It's so stupid. So, so stupid."

"I know it's really upsetting for you that your brother can be pretty unfair to you, but... that's what he does."

"I'm gonna give him something to worry about." She's walking over to a group of the guys, looking pretty pissed off, and I know she's about to do something stupid. She grabs Kevin's best friend, Martin, then yells out "Kevin!".

Her brother looks up from the beach and pushes Lucy away, seeing what's going to happen.

Nina plants a big kiss on Martin's lips and only stops when Kevin pulls her free. He yells a blue streak of swears at her, but she just stands there, unaffected.

Martin starts talking to the group again. This isn't a new thing around here, the feud between Nina and Kevin. We all know that by tomorrow, they'll be over it and will be back to just brother and sister again.

Yeah, by tomorrow, things will be back to normal.

And right now, I could see Alex flirting with that girl Lyn's boyfriend. As town bitch, it was my right to tell everyone.

This is the cycle of Mineral Town, a place built on lies, anger and drama. And sometimes people like to keep that little cycle going so they can sit back and laugh at the consequences.

People like me.


	4. Chapter 4: My biggest secret

My Official Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, Natsume does. Cool.

A/N: (From now on, I'll be starting and ending my chapters with authors notes) Things start to get interesting here. Well, hopefully it's interesting. I think it is, but I might be tooting my own horn here. (I love that expression, I had to put it in)

Please review!

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---Kevin---

Spring 4

"Kevin?" I hear Nina at the door, accompanied with loud knocking. I don't speak. Sure, I'm acting like a younger brother rather then an big one, but she's given me a reason to.

She knocks again, harder.

"Kev?" she yells. After a few times I give in.

"What?" I spit out.

"Can I come in."

"Whatever."

I turn off the TV. I wasn't really paying attention anyway. I've just been sat here, thinking about Nina and what happened at the beach today. I'm really pissed off, but not because of shock- definitely not shock. Every time she sticks up for herself like this, I get upset. Of course, then I should leave her alone, then I won't be upset. That's what everyone says. But I can't help it.

You see, I love her. I've loved her since the day I found out I was adopted, when I was seven. No one else knows I'm adopted, and definitely no one else knows how crazy in love I am with my 'sister'.

Of anyone in the village, or even the world, I had to fall in love with Nina. Anyone else would have caused me less heartache. Then everyday wouldn't be a living hell, carrying around my secret. But I did.

Every second of every minute of every day, I wish more then anything I could tell her. I'm jealous of everyone. I wish I could have been someone else. But I'm me.

Everytime Steve says anything about my sister and how in love with her he says he is, I feel like dying. He can tell anyone he chooses, because they're not related. But I can't.

As she sits down on the bed next to me, I watch her long blonde waves fall down her back, and stare into her big ocean blue eyes. One long arm reaches over and she holds my hand. I take a deep breath.

"Kevin, I am sorry, I really am. But sometimes… I feel like I've just had enough. And even though, yeah, you're my brother, you can't always tell me what to do. Especially now that I'm getting older." She says.

I nod. "I know."

"We've had the same conversation so many times and everytime you say you know, I believe you. But you always do the same thing."

I nod again. "I know."

"Please, please tell me it's different this time."

I look away for a second. "It is different."

"Good. And I am sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

She smiles and walks towards the door.

"Nina? One more thing."

She turns around. "What?"

"Call Martin and tell him you don't like him. You gave him the wrong idea."

Nina laughs, and it proves to be infectious. She runs back and throws her arms around my neck in a big hug.

"I love you, Kev."

"I love you, Nina."

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No one has ever even mentioned to me that me and Nina may not be related, except of course my foster parents. We look a lot alike- the same blonde hair, blue eyes, good figures. I'm three years older, but we're still pretty much the same.

We have the same hobbies too, but so does everyone else in Mineral Town- a love for sport. However, there's only a small amount who like to surf, and me and Nina are two of them. I'm known as the best surfer here, and Nina not so much. Not for lack of trying. I've done my best to teach her, but she's gradually getting less and less determined.

Part of the reason I suspect she's giving up is also her friend, Lucy. Lucy doesn't like the water so much- worried she'll ruin her hair/make-up/manicure. She's very high maintenance and it gets pretty annoying. It's part of the reason people don't like her.

I do, though. I think me and Nina see a different side to Lucy from everyone else. She does have fun, she's just very good at hiding it. She lets it out around us two.

Lucy's gorgeous in a different way from Nina. Her perfectly straight brown hair reaches just past her shoulders, and she has matching brown eyes. She's a couple of inches shorter and has a much darker tan, making her look almost Latino. It's general consensus that Nina is the sexy one, and Nina is the classic beauty.

I know that Lucy doesn't actually have the hots for me, and it's all just a game. But I play along. Lucy is yet another thing that me and Nina have in common, and I'd do anything to keep her close to me.

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Spring 7

Today there are loads of us on the beach, taking in the sun and just being lazy. We've all broken off into little groups- a couple groups of girl and a few gangs of guys. I'm with Danny, Robbie, Martin and Steve. We're grilling Danny and Steve on their respective relationships with Jess and Lyn.

"So, how's it with Jess this time? Not breaking up soon, I hope?" I tease Danny. Him and Jess have been on-off so many times I can't even count. Everyone knows full well they're meant for each other. When they break up, we all join together to make them see sense. It's never failed, and things are always better when you've got someone to suffer with, as they've proved.

"Well, we've made it for a year now, and it seems okay to me," He says. "No problems as far as I can tell."

"Unlike Robbie, who's totally screwing his girl over…" Steve says, and starts laughing.

"How do you mean?" Robbie looks away nervously.

"She stands there and watches you with Alex… can you imagine? She's looks like she's gonna die everytime you speak with Alex… do you even care about Lyn?" Martin asks.

"I guess. I just think Alex is fun."

"More fun then Lyn?"

Steve starts laughing again. "No question!" he answers for Robbie. Everyone but Robbie starts laughing now.

"My girlfriend is not boring!"

We all look at each other and make a bad attempt at holding in our laughter.

"She isn't!"

We're howling now.

"She isn't!" Robbie pauses. "Oh, fuck off." He gets up and goes to talk to his (boring) girlfriend.

Nina and some of the other girls come over to join us. She sits down between me and Steve. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, Martin was just telling us about how obviously you dig him…" Steve jokes. Martin gives him a dead leg.

"No, we weren't." Martin snaps back. "I heard what you said, Nina, just because you kiss someone doesn't mean you like them."

At this point Robbie has sat back down, seeing that Lyn was busy talking to someone else.

"Yeah…" Everyone's eyes go to Alex. She said it pretty loudly, and people not in our little circle are looking too. "Like this."

She crawls over to an unsuspecting Robbie and kisses him. After a moment we all start cheering, and soon everyone joins in. The thing is, Robbie isn't even trying to back out, just sitting there and letting Alex kiss him.

I'm the first person to look over at Lyn. She's breathing in deeply. I'm starting to see that maybe, this isn't so funny. I stop cheering, tap Nina on the shoulder, and point to Lyn.

"Guys!" she whispers. "Stop cheering!" and then we point together. Alex finally sits back down and sees Lyn walking away in a huff.

"Twiggy? Aren't you gonna go say something?" Danny asks.

Alex raises an eyebrow. "Nah."

Robbie freezes for a second, but then is out like a bolt, running after her.

"What the hell was that?" Martin says to her.

Alex shrugs. "I was proving your point. You know, about-"

"Yeah, we know what point. It was a pretty horrible thing to do though." Steve interrupts.

"No, it would've been horrible if I'd forced him. Like tied his arms behind his back so he couldn't get free." Alex pauses and looks around. "Besides, why are you all sticking up for her? You know what she did to me."

Everyone joins in a chorus of 'YOU WERE NINE!".

"Yeah, but still. She's a bitch."

"She's not too bad. If you gave her a chance, you'd see she's alright." Steve reasons with her.

"Shut up, you're supposed to worship her, remember?" Alex replies, pointing at Nina. Nina giggles. She thinks it's a game, that Steve only pretends to like her.

Thank god she doesn't know it's real. Because god forbid she liked him too. That would crush me.

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A/N: mmmm...

now, don't make me do subliminal messages here... review, pleeease...


	5. Chapter 5: The love square

My Official Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, Natsume does. Cool.

A/N: sorry it took me so long to put this up, but I was trying to re-write the intro, cuz it sucked. Yeah, I couldn't really do it, so that's gonna stay like it is. Woohoo

Review… I command you… now go my ninga...

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---Sara---

Spring 8

I wasn't surprised by what happened on the beach. No, I wouldn't put it past my best friend to kiss another girl's guy and pretend she had a good reason. I think the only person who was shocked was Robbie, who was either too shocked to react or, well… wanted it as much as Alex did. We all predicted it, and now that it happened, it wouldn't blow over easily.

Lyn had stormed off and Robbie instinctively went after her. We sat in the circle like we were before and tried to avoid mentioning it, but Alex looked to smug and pleased with herself. Steve finally began having a go at her and everyone else joined in. We soon realized there was no getting through to her. She's pretty arrogant sometimes. Well, most of the time. But that's just typical Alex.

Even though it all happened yesterday, I still didn't know what had happened, which is strange, because usually news spreads pretty quickly around here. I was hoping to find out now, though.

"Hey," I said to Jack. "Sorry I'm late."

Jack had to milkshakes in his hand. "I made them fresh this morning." He said, sounding awfully pleased with himself.

"Okay, so, did you hear what happened with Robbie and Lyn yesterday?"

"Yeah," Jack nods, "he got to her and tried to explain why Alex kissed him- the little Nina and Martin thing. She kept trying to walk away but he was following her around. So she just ignored him and let him talk at her and she didn't respond. And then finally, she just turned around and started crying."

"Crying?" I repeat in disbelief.

"Crying!" Jack echoes, and we start laughing. "So then she was upset because he never seemed to care about her, she feels like everyone hates her, and she thought at least her boyfriend would be nice to her, but she heard he was bad-mouthing her behind her back."

"Well, everyone does hate her… I feel bad for her now…"

"She did kinda screw Alex over."

We've been walking this whole time, but after this comment from Jack I stop and stare at him. "Please don't take her side. She's my best friend and all, but my god, don't take her side on that!"

Jack grins. "Okay, well, end of story, Robbie wouldn't agree to change, because he thought he hadn't done anything wrong. Can you believe that? So now it's over. But there's something else I wanna talk to you about…"

I look at Jack and, spotting a bench, signal for us both to sit down.

"It sounds really serious, what's up?"

"It's Alex. I… really like her."

Well, this is interesting.

"I know I've hardly been here for a week, but she seems really great, and I think I might ask her out."

So interesting.

"But I'm not sure. Should I get to know her, or trust my instincts? I don't know…"

You know, this was more interesting then the Robbie and Lyn thing.

"And I wanted to talk to you because you'll know-"

"I don't know anything!"

"Sara, calm down. I just want to ask… does Alex really like Robbie? Or was it all just revenge like everyone says it is?"

"Oh, Jack trust me, it's all revenge. I say go for it." I put on my biggest smile and hug him.

"You're right. I'll do it today. You guys are coming to the beach, right?"

"I'll make sure we are."

Now Jack smiles back at me. "I knew you would understand." Then neither of us speak for a moment, until he cries out "yes!" and we hug again.

"Okay, see ya, Jack."

"Bye Sara!"

I watched him walk away. I wish it was as innocent as it sounds, just watching him walk away, but I was thinking how much I didn't actually want Alex to be at the beach, so he couldn't ask her out.

How much was it? A lot, it ends up.

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Despite my moment as Jack left, me, Alex and Jess went to the beach together. I walked off with Jess to comfort a crying Lyn. Alex obviously wouldn't talk to Lyn and went to the offending party, Robbie.

"Lyn, if you're so upset, you don't really want to go out to the beach, do you?" I ask, because I would never publicly cry, and I don't know many who would.

"Look at them, look at them!" she howls, pointing at Robbie and Alex. There isn't much to see, as they're just talking, but me and Jess pat her shoulders and whisper, "I know, I know."

That's when I see Jack coming down the stairs. He looks around and when he sees me, he gives me a big thumbs up. I nod, but the moment he looks away I start gagging.

"You okay?" Jess says, forgetting about Lyn for a second.

"Eh? Oh, yeah, fine. Just fine."

Jess clearly isn't convinced. She keeps talking at me, but I'm watching Jack. He sees Alex and for a second turns to walk away, but then turns back and starts walking to her.

"Hello? HELLO!" Jess shouts at me. "You're not answering me."

"Yeah, umm… I'll be right back." I get up and sprint down to Jack. He only a few steps away from Alex when I leap on him and he crashes to the ground.

"Tripped!" I scream. Jack picks himself up and then helps me.

"Okay, you wanna get a drink? I still need to talk to you."

I let out a deep breath. "Sure."

We order a coke each from the lodge. "Well, I was gonna ask her, until you pushed me over, but I don't think I would've been able to do it, I'm still pretty nervous."

"So, then you're not upset with me, right?"

"Of course not. I just need you to help me, get my confidence back... I should still ask her, yes?"

Now's my chance! Now I can tell him to not ask her!

"Well, Jack, actually-"

I'm interrupted by someone screaming. "Alex, please!"

Oh my god. That's Robbie.

We all start staring. "What do you think is going on?" Jack asks.

"No idea, but it doesn't look pretty."

Danny leans over the counter.

"Robbie asked her."

Jack makes a dying-animal-like noise.

"And she said…" I say to Danny.

"No, I take it. You think he'd freak out like this if she said yes?"

"I guess not."

Now the three of us look at the subject of the discussion.

"Alex! You like me, I know you do." Robbie surveys the beach, only now realizing everyone she staring. He speaks in a quieter voice now and we can't hear him.

I shuffle in closer, like everyone else has.

"Robbie, can't you take a joke?"

"…B-B-But… but… that's…"

"What?" Alex says in a snotty voice.

"That's not a joke…"

"What do you mean?"

Robbie has slumped over, but is still standing. Alex looks down at him, unimpressed.

"Fine. But I'm gonna have to stick with no." she starts walking away.

"Alex!"

Robbie tries to run after her, but Martin and Steve hold him back.

"Don't make an idiot of yourself." Steve says, and they let go. Robbie sits down after a few seconds and stares at the sand.

Me and Jack look at each other. Jack looks visibly shaken.

"What's wrong?" Me and Danny both say. Jack drags me away.

"I don't want that to happen to me…"

Of course, my first instinct is to comfort him and say he'll be okay, and he should still try. But then I of myself.

"I see. Well, maybe you don't ask her today, yeah?"

I reach out and hold his hand. He smiles at me.

"Yeah!"

He goes back to talk to Danny and I go back to Lyn.

She was a mess.

At this point, it wasn't even words, just tears and mumbling. She was crushed.

"I understand…" Jess says every few seconds, then looks to me desperately.

'You're on your own' I mouth, and leave her.

I end up with some of the guys, namely Travis, Joe and Kyle. "That was pretty big, huh?" Joe says to me. I shrug.

"Well, that's Alex."

"You should tell your friend to not be such a flirt, y'know. It gets her into trouble." Travis preaches at me.

"I blame you."

"We were nine!" Travis jokes and the four of us laugh.

Of course, though, this wasn't the last of the Alex-Robbie-Jack-me love square… far from it…

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A/N: hope you enjoyed that. I'll try to get a few more chapters up in the next week, cuz after that I'm back in school and I definitly won't have as much time. (damn english teachers)

again. REVIEW, YOU LITTLE DOOSHBAGS.


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